Post #3

As One 3 Production says, multimedia is defined as single storytelling through multiple electronic media devices. Unlike multimedia, transmedia is telling multiple stories over multiple mediums that fit together to tell one big persuasive story. Multimedia conveys its single story through multiple platforms as an entertainment. Novels such as Harry Potter, Twilight, and Hunger Games are originally written in text; but now, audiences can view on screen at theaters and at homes. Multimedia persuades one-sidedly to the mass audiences and unable to interact. But transmedia allows the audiences to bring the fiction into the real world. These audiences can experience fictional world through games, parody videos, and real world events.

For example, we love superhero stories. Whether the character is Superman, Wonderwoman, Hulk, Ironman, or Batman, it does not matter because we love to see heroes with special abilities. Something that we do not have in our daily life. We love to see them saving the world and defeating the villains. In the chapter, Searching for the Origami Unicorn, Jenkin says, "A growing number of consumers may be choosing their popular culture because of the opportunities it offers them to explore complex worlds and compare notes with others. More and more consumers are enjoying participating in online knowledge cultures and discovering what it is like to expand one's comprehension by tapping the combined expertise of these grassroots communities," (134). Transmedia persuades us to interact, communicate, and experience the stories.

I specifically want to see the transmedia effect on Batman Dark Knight series. In this series, Joker, the villain, has more impact to mass audiences that influenced our society. We gain more interest in violent, psychotic character than superhero. Before the movie was released on theater, APG was created for advertisement purpose. Why So Serious campaign viral moved thousands of fans to play an intense game which involved all over the country. Comic-con created a "jokerized" $1 bill to allow the fans to play scavenger hunt.

 

But sometimes, people get confused between the real world and fiction. Such extreme case would be the shooting at the Colorado movie theater. James Holmes, college student, believed he was the next Joker and he thought he can manipulate and control by killing and shooting innocent people. Of course, Joker is not a real character; he does not exist in real world. But because transmedia develops its strategy to allow people to experience, people like James Holmes exist.


As I mentioned before, transmedia engage audiences to experience and participate the story through games, and paraody videos. Audiences can become the character and develop their own story. For Hollywood franchise, transmedia strategy is successful because the more popular the story becomes, the more it will be involved in popular culture. In such sense, multimedia will decline because we can not respond and interact with the stories.